Masters of Horror: “Chocolate”

Chocolate is the fifth episode to air in the Masters of Horror Showtime original series, created by Mick Garris. This is a particularly intriguing installment not only because it’s written and directed by Garris (and based on a short story he wrote), but because it’s actually the least “horror” of the lot so far. It’s also the most suspenseful and compelling.

Henry Thomas (who first worked with Garris in 1990’s Psycho IV: The Beginning) stars as Jamie, a recent divorcee who is wallowing in his loneliness and enjoying his misery in a strange, mildly masochistic way — he chooses to be alone, chooses to starve himself on a strict diet — until a woman comes into his life. Or does he go into her life? Jamie’s psychological, perhaps supernatural journey begins with the taste of sweet chocolate and ends in salty blood; in-between is his search for the truth. Curiosity killed the cat (or the cougar, as the case may be) but Jamie doesn’t care — he’s determined to find the woman he loves.

Catherine (Lucie Laurier) is an artist who lives life to the fullest — she’s an artist, a lover of music, a connoisseur of fine chocolate, and a wholly sexual being. She’s everything Jamie is not… but who is she? Is she actually orchestrating this whole psychic seduction, or is she completely oblivious to the stranger who is suddenly seeing what she sees, tasting what she tastes, and feeling what she feels?

Garris’s short story, published in Hot Blood Vol. 1, is only a leaping off point for this cinematic presentation; the tale here is fuller and fleshier, with several peripheral characters added to help the action move along. Garris is gifted with the rare directorial talent of making very internal, literary stories (The Shining mini-series, 2004’s Riding The Bullet, and now Chocolate) relatable to those of us looking in from the outside.

Thomas is excellent as the bedeviled character who has to do a lot of things — conveying horrified, confused expressions, solo sexual moments, and psychic switchbacks — that could come off looking ridiculous in the hands of a lesser actor. The peripheral cast, which includes the always-welcome Matt Frewer, is in the story just enough to give the audience a break from the psychological tightrope.

Chocolate looks good. The first three episodes of Masters of Horror were lensed by Jon Joffin (who did a particularly striking job on Don Coscarelli’s Incident On and Off a Mountain Road), and the most recent two were done by Attila Szalay. Szalay, who achieved a similarly polished horror noir treatment for a 2000 film called Blacktop, uses a lot of interesting angles and perspectives for this episode. The art direction and set design are lushly detailed, and Garris’s fans will get an extra wink when they have a peek at Jamie’s bedside reading material.

Although Chocolate is indeed the least gore-filled episode to date, it’s wholly satisfying and definitely won’t leave you starved.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

More on Masters of Horror, including our exclsuive Making-Of Chocolate featurette - click here